Table Of ContentPerspectives on
Business Modelling
Understanding and
Changing Organisations
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH
Anders G. Nilsson· Christofer Tolis
Christer Nellborn (Eds.)
Perspectives on
Business Modelling
Understanding and
Changing Organisations
With 78 Figures
and 8 Tables
, Springer
Prof. Anders G. Nilsson
Karlstad University
Department of Information Technology
SE-651 88 Karlstad
Sweden
Christofer ToIis
Stockholm School of Economics
Department of Information Management
Box 6501
SE-113 83 Stockholm
Sweden
Christer Nellborn
KTH and Stockholm University
Department of Computer and Systems Sciences
Electrum 230
SE-16440 Kista
Sweden
ISBN 978-3-642-63604-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Perspectives on business modelling: understanding and changing organisation /
Anders G. Nilsson ... (ed.). - Berlin; Heidelberg; New York; Barcelona; Hong
Kong; London; Milan; Paris; Singapore; Tokyo: Springer, 1999
ISBN 978-3-642-63604-2 ISBN 978-3-642-58458-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-58458-9
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Preface
We have for many years perceived a great need for innovative and sys
tematic ways of working with change processes in organisations. Business
modelling is a field that provides valuable knowledge for performing
development work more professionally in companies and public services.
An important prerequisite for success is to understand the underlying
values and principles of the models and methods being used in practice.
The leading idea behind this book is to present different perspectives on
working with business modelling based on established theories and practi
cal experiences. Instead of "pushing" a specific method or view, you will
be able to appreciate a whole smorgasbord of different experiences and
ideas. Recognising different alternatives gives you a stronger position
when involved in development work in organisations. Especially, we have
written this book for you who are interested to learn more about:
• bridging the communication gap between business people and systems
experts in development work
• understanding and changing organisations by combining established
models and methods on the market
• exploring different aspects and points of view when developing
corporate strategies, business processes and information support
Organisational change is an integrated part of most people's work. Many
types of models and methods are being used to facilitate the development
work. Unfortunately, in many organisations there is still a lack of deeper
understanding of the possibilities and limitations involved. This book
provides much needed insights for you who want to do something about
that.
The overall goal is to give advanced knowledge and relevant information
on the key issues in business modelling for today's organisations. The
book contains contributions from active researchers and senior consultants
from the field. The contributions are based on a common frame of refer
ence that have been tried out in change projects in both private industry
and public service sector.
The authors of this book are involved in the Business Modelling research
consortium. The consortium is an active network of researchers from aca-
VI Perspectives on Business Modelling
demia and participants from industry. It has been funded by NUTEK, the
Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development, during
the period of 1995-1997.
This book is the result of extensive cooperation within the consortium. We
want to acknowledge Christofer Tolis' work with designing and imple
menting the joint layout for the book. We also wish to express our grati
tude to all other people who in different ways have contributed to making
this book possible.
Stockholm, January 1999
Anders G. Nilsson Christofer Tolis Christer Nellborn
Contents
1. Perspectives on Business Modelling:
Understanding and Changing Organisations
Anders G. Nilsson, Christofer Tolis & Christer Nellborn
Part I: Development on Different Levels
2. Process Ownership in a Rapid Growth Situation:
The Ericsson Radio Case 13
Christofer Tolis & Christer Nellborn
3. A Monopoly Facing Competition:
Sweden Post's Exploration of Processes and Descriptions 35
Christer Nellborn & Christofer Tolis
4. Process Management in Public Administration:
The Social Insurance Office Case 67
Jorgen Andersson
5. Business Modelling in a Historical Perspective:
Experiences from Statistics Sweden 93
Bo Sundgren
6. Business Process Development and Information Technology
in Small and Medium-sized Companies 117
Jorgen Andersson
Part II: Exploration of Different Points of View
7. Facilitating Understanding and Change:
The Role of Business Models in Development Work 133
Christofer Tolis
8. Lessons Learned from Applying Business Modelling:
Exploring Opportunities and A voiding Pitfalls 151
Claes-Goran Lindstrom
VIII Perspectives on Business Modelling
9. Business Process Models Revised:
Challenging the Physical Metaphor 165
Gosta Steneskog
10. Principal-Agent and Transaction Cost Theories
in Business Modelling 181
Birger Rapp
11. Business and Systems Development:
Opportunities for an Integrated Way-of-Working 197
Christer Nellborn
Part III: Description of Different Aspects
12. The Business Developer's Toolbox:
Chains and Alliances between Established Methods 217
Anders G. Nilsson
13. Improving the Quality of Requirements Specifications
by Enterprise Modelling 243
Janis A. Bubenko jr. & Marite Kirikova
14. On Why to Model What and How:
Concepts and Architecture for Change 269
Bjorn E. Nilsson
15. Business Modeller's Checklist:
"Dos" and "Don'ts" in Hands-on Practice 305
Hans Willars
Index 325
Business Modelling Research Consortium 333
About the Authors 335
-1-
Perspectives on Business Modelling:
Understanding and Changing
Organisations
Anders G. Nilsson
Christofer Tolis
Christer Nellborn
Business Modelling is the use of models and methods to understand
and change organisations. The main objective is to bridge the
communication gap between business people and systems people. In
this chapter, three important themes in business modelling are pre
sented: development on different levels, explorations of different
points of view, and descriptions of different aspects. Overviews of
the following chapters are given in order to highlight each per
spective on business modelling.
Introducing Business Modelling
Business Modelling is the use of models and methods to understand and
change business operations together with information systems in organi
sations. In this book, twelve authors from the Business Modelling research
consortium present their perspectives on the field. This introductory
chapter aims to provide an overview of Business Modelling and a founda
tion for the following fourteen chapters.
Our mission with this book is to give a broad range of perspectives on
what we perceive as key issues for business modelling in organisations
and industry today. We believe this book to be of interest and importance
for you working as:
2 Perspectives on Business Modelling
• a practitioner, involved in business development or information sys
tems development in an organisation;
• a management consultant, giving professional advice on corporate or
information technology matters to your customer organisations; or
• a student or researcher, focusing on business administration or infor-
mation systems.
In order to fully appreciate the content of the book, a basic knowledge of
business analysis and systems development is helpful. By providing dif
ferent perspectives on business modelling, the book has a character of
"follow-up" studies for people who are interested in both theoretical and
practical aspects of change work in organisations.
Understanding and changing organisations
In today's business world, information systems and information support
have become a more integrated part of business operations and, in many
cases, a vital part of the business mission itself. The information systems
can also create new business opportunities for the companies to reinforce
their competitive edge in the market place. Product quality and delivery
times have gained importance in the business world, in order to achieve
enhanced customer value. This puts pressure on the functionality and
flexibility of information systems in responding to business changes. The
information support is also becoming more critical in order to achieve
sustainable business results in organisations.
Understanding and changing an organisation is two crucial skills needed
to succeed in a competitive environment. People working within an
organisation, as well as those coming in from the outside, e.g. consultants
and researchers, need to be able to explore new situations and opportuni
ties. Structuring and sense-making are important in order to understand
and assess a situation. Working towards goals and influencing others are
important in order to change and improve it.
Within an organisation, there are different people and groups trying to
understand and change it. In many cases, the development of business
activities and its information support are carried out as separate change
processes and in independent projects. There is very limited, or no,
organisational co-ordination between business development and informa
tion systems development. This situation leads to long turn-around times
and unnecessary duplication of work. Sometimes business and systems
